Sunday, December 2, 2007

I know that this blog in the past has been reserved for Idaho politics, but consider this my diversification plan.

As nearly any college football fan will tell you, there always seems to be more BS in the BCS than is acceptable. For years, the folks at the BCS have tried to fix problems as they have arisen. The band aids have almost become tradition in the college football world. Except this is the sort of tradition like your creepy uncle getting drunk and hitting on your mom. Not the sort of tradition that you'd like to continue. So, why continue it?

The BCS is to certain interests in college football as the farm bill has been to agribusiness. The BCS is a cash cow. As a result those interests, which are a very powerful, have been reluctant to let go of their golden egg. Really, you can't blame them. Asking the BCS powers-that-be to relinquish control is like asking OPEC to give up its control of crude oil markets.

Being that as it may, it doesn't justify the status quo. If I were the king of the college football kingdom, here is what I would do:

12 Team Playoff

Automatic qualifiers:

BCS and non-BCS conference champions ranked in the top 16

Independents ranked in top 12

Automatic qualifier tiebreak (if necessary):

Top independent within top 12 (if multiple qualify)

Conference champions in order of rank until all slots are full

At large selection (if necessary):

Highest ranked non-BCS conference champion if all other non-BCS conference champions failed to qualify automatically (must be top 25)

Any teams within top twelve that failed to qualify automatically to be filled based upon order of ranking

Playoff procedures:

Top four conference champions OR top three conference champion and top independent if top independent is ranked higher than any of the top four conference champions receive by for first round

Match pairing for first round based upon random selection

Teams from same conference may not be paired against each other in first round

Teams that played previously during the regular season may not be paired against each other in the first round unless impossible to do otherwise

Playoff game location to be neutral site (bowl game location to be decided by bowl commissioners)

Final four games play in current BCS bowls (selection for which match-up plays where to be decided by BCS)

Championship game to be played at neutral site decided by BCS

FYI - The bowls I used in the image are just examples not necessarily what would be done.